Attachment for motor vehicles



May 10, 1938. A. A. GouLD ATTACHMENT FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Filed 0G12. 10,1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l I /M/f/v rop.' MW

May 10, 1938. A. A. GouLD ATTACHMENT FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Filed Oct. 10,1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May l0, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEamarsi 7 Claims.

'I'he invention relates to a vision attachment for motor vehiclesadapted to facilitate the parking of such vehicles adjacent street curbsor other objects.

One object of the invention is to provide a mirror attachment or ilttingfor motor vehicles which is adapted. independently of other mirrorattachments of the vehicle, to enable the driver, without turning hisbody from the normal driving position, to see an.image oi' the runningboard and the adjacent ground surface, thus greatly facilitating theparking of such vehicle adjacent street curbs or other vehicles orobjects.

A further object of the invention is to provide 16 a mirror tting of thecharacter referred to which is adapted to be readily attached tovehiclesV of i"widely varying body designs.

Other objects of the invention comprise the provision of a mirrorattachment of the character referred to which is compact, pleasing inappearance, adapted to be fitted to the exterior of the vehicle bodyadjacent a window opening thereof without objectionably obstructing thewindow opening and which can be produced at low cost.

Other objects, more or lessincidental or ancillary to those stated, andthe manner of attaining the various objects will be apparent from thefollowing description referring to the accompanying 'drawings which showpreferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view showing my improved attachmentapplied to a motor vehicle of conventional design and indicating the eldof vision of the running board and adjacent the driver of the vehicle.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same vehicle with my improvedattachment applied thereto, the lateral extent of the eld of viewafforded by the attachment being indicated in this view also.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the attachment and the adjacent toppart of the vehicle door to which the attachment is secured.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the broken line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a motor vehicle with a modiiied form of myattachment applied thereto.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the form of attachment shown in Fig.5, together with an ment is secured.

Fig.7 is an enlarged side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

55 Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9--9 of Fig. 6.

ground surface which the attachment affords to adjacent part of the doorto which the attach- Referring in detail to the constructionsillustrated and rst to that illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, Idesignates as an entirety the vehicle body which is oi.' theconventional five passenger, four door type. 2 designates the front ordrivers 5 seat, 3 the steering wheel adapted, through the usual steeringgear connection with the front wheels, to steer the vehicle and 4 theright iront entrance door opposite the drivers seat, this door havingthe usual movable window pane 4*. 5 designates the right running boardof the vehicle. All of these parts are of well known conventionalconstruction, as are other parts (not shown) of the vehicle such as thesteering gear connecting the steering wheel 3 with the front groundwheels, the engine and engine control devices.

My improved attachment, designated as an entirety by 6, comprises aglass mirror 1 which is preferably elongated on lines fore and aft ofthe vehicle and a supporting and housing structure for the mirror whichis designated as an entirety by 8. This supporting and housing structureas shown is a sheet metal stamping having a downwardly and laterallyinclined Wall 8* covering the back of the mirror and front and reardepending walls 8b, 8 which, in conjunction with the wall 8, constitutea protecting cover or hood for the mirror. The structure also comprisesa horizontal inwardly extending wall 8d which `is of triangular outlineas shown in Fig. 3, and an extension 8e which projects upwardly fromthe' hood portion of the structure and extends inwardly over the topmember lb of the adjacent door, being bent to .conform approximately tothe top rabbeted contour of the top of said door. '.Ihis part 8 alsocomprises apertured anges 8' which enable the attachment to be securedto the wood top member 4b of the door by means of screws 9, 9.

The mirror 1 is preferably iixed in position in -the supportingstructure 8 by the depending wall or flange 8?, which embraces the lowerouter edge of the mirror, and a plurality of clips or ilanges l0 whichare secured to the wall 8e and' embrace the upper inner edge of themirror. The edges of the mirror are preferably protected by strips II,il of fiber or other suitable material. The mirror is eiectively heldagainst endwise displacement and is fully protected at the ends bytheend walls 8b and 8 of the supporting structure. The mirror l may be oi.'plain form but I prefer to employ a mirror that is straight on fore andaft lines but convexly curved on transverse lines and this curvature ispreferably cylindrical and therefore uniform. Preferably, u

also, as in the construction shown, the form and arrangement of themirror is such that the intersection thereof with a vertical planeparallel to the outer edge of the running board is on a straight lineparallel to said edge.

With the mirror constructed and mounted in the manner described, aperson sitting behind the steering wheel in the drivers seat and withhis body and limbs in normal driving position can, by glancing to theright, get a view in the mirror 'I of a considerable portion of therunning board and adjacent parts of the surface of the ground. The eldof vision of running board and ground thus afforded is indicatedapproximately in Fig. l by the dot-and-dash rectangle a, the rays oflight from the bounds of this `nectangle being indicated by the lineswith arrows converging on the mirror I and, after reflection, convergingto the region of point b which is intended to represent the approximateposition of the eye of the driver. By making the mirror 1 of curvedform, as shown in Fig. 4, the driver, with but slight raising orlowering of his head, is aiorded a field of vision of running board andground of considerable area.

The use oi' the attachment and its advantages will readily be understoodand appreciated. In parking the vehicle the driver has but to turn hishead sidewise and glance at the mirror I to be able, without bending orturning his body from the normalldriving position, to secure a view oi'the outer side of the right running board and a considerable area of theadjacent partof the ground and thus, in moving the vehicle eitherforward or rearward to a position adjacent the street curb or to aposition adjacent another vehicle or other object, the driver is enabledat all times to see the position of the vehicle in relation to the curbor other object and to manipulate the steering wheel from moment tomoment under the guidance of the changing image reiiected by the mirrorso that the parking oi' the vehicle is very greatly facilitated. It willbe observed that this result is secured by the use oi' my single mirrorattachment and independently oi' any other mirror with which'the car maybe fitted. Hence the functioning of the device is entirely unaifected byAany adjustment of other mirrors on the car. Furthermore, with aconvexly curved mirror such as I prefer to employ drivers of differentheight can readily secure an adequate view ofthe running board andground without the necessity of adjustment of the mirror.

It will be observed that the mirror attachment is compact, of pleasingappearance and, by reason of its mounting adjacent the very top of thewindow opening of the door, does not materially obstruct the windowopening. And, being mounted on the door, the device of course offers nointerference with the normal operation oi' the door. By forming theattaching portion 8 of the attachment of thin sheet metal it is possibleto apply it to the top surface of the door structure without causing anyinterference with the door frame or jamb, there being customarily aliberal clearance between the door and its frame.

The supporting structure of the mirror, as described above, is formed soas to support the mirror with its longitudinal lines substantiallyparallel to the outer edge of the running board notwithstanding theforwardly converging lines oi the car door, the transmission to thedriver jacent ground surface being thus avoided. To

permit this relation f parallelism between the mirror and running boardto be secured when the attachment is applied to cars oi diierent designthe attaching part 8 is preferably formed as shown in Fig. 4 withsubstantial clearance between it and the upstanding portion o! therabbeted door top so that in fastening the attachment to the door itsangular relation thereto can vbe'varied to a substantial extent,according to the degree of forward convergence oi the body lines of thecar. It isobviou's that, the device can be attached to any car with verygreat `ease and without in any way marring the extetachment employing adouble mirror construction which is ldesigned to ail'ord to the driver afield of view of larger area, particularly lengthwise of the vehicle. Inthis form of the attachment la type of construction is employed which issuited for original equipment purposes rather than for attachment to thevehicle by the user. The construction comprises a mirror I2 similar tothe mirror 'I of the first form of construction, and a plain mirror I3arranged at the front end of the mirror I2, the mirror I3 being of plainor flat form. The two mirrors are carried by a housing structuredesignated in its entirety by Il. 'Ihis housing comprises a sheet metalstamping which forms the main backing wall I Il for the mirror I2 andthe backing wall IIb for the mirror I3. The stamping also comprises therear end wall I4, the depending flange Ild which embraces the lower edgeof the mirror I2, the flange I4' which embraces the edges of the plainmirror vI3 and the upwardly extending ange I4f by which the attachmentcan be secured to the top member Il o i' the vehicle door by means ofsuitable securing screws I6, I6. The housing further comprises a topwallrnember I'I which is formed with a bead I'I. The parts II, IIreplace portions of the metal door structure which are interrupted toreceive the attachment.. Clips or brackets I8,

' forwardly as well as downwardly and outwardly and it thus serves toreiiect to the driver an image of the rearmost portions of the runningboard and adjacent parts of the ground, and thus supplements the viewafforded by the mirror I2 which functions in the same manner as themirror 'I of the rst form of construction. In Fig. 5 the dotand-dashlines c and d indicate the front and rear bounds of the combined fieldsof view afforded by the two mirrors I2 and I3 and the point e indicatesthe position of the drivers eye to which the lines of light converge.

It is believed that the operation and use of the modified form of theattachment will bev understood without further description.

It is obvious that the second form o f the device has many of theadvantages of the first form and in addition the advantage of anAenlarged eld of view aorded by the front mirror I3.

I have shown my improved attachment applied to a Sedan type of vehiclebut it will be understood that it is applicable to single seat vehiclesequally as Well as to those with multiple seats.

While the forms of construction which I have specifically illustratedand described are such as I prefer, it will be understood that they arepresented for purposes of explanation and illustration and that theconstruction and arrangement of the attachment can be varied widelywithout departing from my invention as dened in the appended claims. Inthis connection it is to be understood that in certain broader aspectsof the invention the running board of the vehicle is to be taken astypifying a principal laterally-bounding member of the vehicle whoseposition in relation to a street curb or other object is indicative alsoof the position of the vehicle as a whole.

What I claim is:

1. In a motor vehicle, the combination with the usual steering wheel,the vehicle body having, on the side remote from the steering wheel, theusual door with window laterally opposite the steering wheel, and theusual running board below said door, of a reilecting mirror attached tosaid door and supported in a position outside the door so as to be seenthrough the window opening of the door by a driver seated behind thesteering Wheel with his body and limbs in normal driving positions andto reect to the eye of such driver an image of the outer edge of therunning board and a portion of the ground at the side of the runningboard, whereby the driver can see the edge of the running board andadjacent ground surfaces while steering the vehicle and controlling theengine to park the vehicle.

2. In a motor vehicle, the combination with the usual steering wheel,the vehicle body having, on the side remote from the steering wheel, theusual door with window laterally opposite the steering wheel, and theusual running board below said door, of an attachment comprising amirror and supporting means for the mirror secured to the top portion ofsaid vehicle door so as to support the mirror outside the door window ina downwardly and inwardly facing position, the reflecting surface of themirror being so formed and disposed that the intersection thereof with avertical plane parallel to the outer edge of the running board is on astraight line parallel to said edge.

3. In a motor vehicle, the combination with the usual steering wheelIthe vehicle body having, on the side remote from the steering wheel, theusual door with Window laterally opposite the steering wheel, and theusual running board below said door, of an attachment comprising amirror and supporting means for the mirror secured to the top portion ofsaid vehicle door so as to support the mirror outside of the door windowin a downwardly and inwardly facing position,

the reilecting surface of the mirror being so formed and disposed thatthe intersection thereof with a vertical plane parallel to the outeredge of the running board is on a straight line parallel to said edgeand the intersection thereof with a plane at right angles to the otherplane and to the running board is on a convexly curved line.

4. In a motor vehicle, the combination with the usual steering wheel,the vehicle body having, on the side remote from the steering wheel, theusual door with Window laterally opposite the steering wheel, and theusual running board below said door, of an attachment comprising amirror and supporting means for the mirror secured to the top portion ofsaid Vehicle door` so as to support the mirror outside of the doorwindow in a downwardly and inwardly facing position, the reflectingsurface of the mirror being convexly cylindrical and disposed with itsaxis parallel to the outer edge of the running board.

5. In a motor vehicle, the combination with the usual steering wheel,the vehicle body having, on the side remote from the steering wheel, theusual door with window laterally opposite the steering wheel, and theusual running board below said door, of an attachment comprising amirror and means for attaching the mirror to the top portion of saiddoor and supporting it in a. downwardly and inwardly facing positionoutside the door window, said means comprising a part shaped to conformto the top portion of the door in a manner permitting it to be securedin different angular positions relative to the door.

6. In a motor vehicle, the combination with the usual steering Wheel,the vehicle body having, on the side remote from the steering wheel, theusual door with window laterally opposite the steering wheel, and theusual running board below said door, of an attachment comprising amirror, means for supporting the mirror in a downwardly and inwardlyfacing position outside the door window and comprising a sheet metalpart formed to overlie and engage the top surface of the door in any oneof various angular positions relative to the plane of the door, andmeans for securing said sheet metal part to the top of the door in anyof said positions.

7. An attachment for motor vehicles having the usual door with windowopposite the drivers seat and running board below the door, said attachment comprising in combination two mirrors and a unitary structureadapted to support said mirrors from the upper portion of such dooroutside ALLEN A. GOULD.

